Portable communication devices, particularly those used in public safety applications, may incorporate a microphone array to provide improved audio communication. Such portable communication devices are often required to operate under robust environmental conditions, including high noise and windy environments. There is a need for detecting bad, faulty, or plugged microphone conditions, as such conditions can cause a microphone to go into a state of emitting high levels of static noise. Traditional energy based failure detectors can be tricked if the microphone failure results in a significantly loud noise or static signal being fed to the audio processing chain. If not properly managed, such static can impede the device's ability to communicate. For example, in an audio-video recording device, such static may cause a noisy recording. Unfortunately, past energy based schemes for detecting a faulty microphone have tended to create false triggers, and wind noise is one such false trigger.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved fault detection of a microphone array that avoids false triggers, particularly false triggers caused by a windy environment.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments shown so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Other elements, such as those known to one of skill in the art, may thus be present.